The disclosures in Korean Application No. 1999-34643, filed Aug. 20, 1999, Korean Application No. 2000-10236, filed Feb. 29, 2000, and International Application No. PCT/KR00/00927, filed Aug. 19, 2000, are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for stable preventing a slipping of a tire when a vehicle runs on a snow road or an iced road, and in particular to an apparatus for preventing a slipping of a tire capable of easily separating a tire slipping preventing apparatus from a tire and being tightly and stable engaged to the tire.
2. Description of the Background Art
A tire slipping prevention apparatus is a winter season vehicle stability apparatus engaged to a tire capable of preventing a tire slipping when a vehicle runs on a snow road or an iced road. A well known conventional tire slipping prevention apparatus is a snow chain which includes a plurality of chains arranged on an outer surface of a tire which contacts with a ground and attached to the outer surface of the same and two wires for connecting the ends of the chains at both sides of the tire.
In the tire slipping prevention apparatus, the snow chain is capable of enhancing a friction coefficient of an outer surface of the tire which contacts with a ground and capable of supporting the entire weight of a vehicle. In addition, the snow chain must be easily detachable because it is used for only a snow road and iced road. Therefore, a snow chain formed of a metallic chain and wire is generally used for satisfying the above-described condition. However, the conventional metallic snow chain does not have an elastic force and is protruded from a grounding surface of the tire and does not have a certain flexibility, so that the snow chain is not engaged to a grounding surface of the tire. Therefore, when a vehicle runs on the road, a vibration and noise occur for thereby significantly decreasing a vehicle riding feeling. In addition, the tire and road may be damaged due to a local pressure of the snow chain.
In order to overcome the above problems, recently, a tire slipping prevention apparatus having friction members each having a certain width and formed of a synthetic resin or a rubber is generally used.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional tire slipping prevention apparatus includes a plurality of friction members 2 closely engaged to a ground surface 100a of a tire 100 in a horizontal direction and arranged along the grounding surface 100a of the same, and two wires 1 and 3 each having a certain length shorter than a surrounding length of the tire 100 in a state that ends of each of the friction members 2 are fixed to a certain distance. Wire 1 has coupling members 10 engaged to both ends of the wire 1 so that the coupling members 10 are connected to each other at an inner side of the tire 100 for thereby forming a circle having a diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the tire 100. A method for engaging a conventional tire slipping prevention apparatus will be explained as follows.
First, the friction members 2 are arranged on a ground in a longitudinal direction in front of the tires of a vehicle, and then the vehicle is moved by a certain distance, so that the tires 100 are placed on the friction members 2. Both ends of each of two wires 1 and 3 placed in an inner and outer portion of the tire 100 are connected to each other for thereby forming a closed circle shape. Therefore, the friction members 2 are pulled in the center direction of the tire 100 by the wires 1 and 3, so that the friction members 2 are closely attached to the grounding surface 100a of the tire 100. In this state, when the vehicle runs, the friction members 2 contact with a slipping ground before the grounding surface 100a of the tire 100 contacts with the slipping ground for thereby preventing a slipping of the tire 100.
As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional tire slipping prevention apparatus has advantages in that since the soft friction members 2 having a certain area determined based on its width are tightly engaged to the grounding surface 100a of the tire 100, a vibration and noise are significantly decreased when a vehicle runs. Therefore, a vehicle riding feeling is not decreased compared to the metallic snow chain.
However, in the conventional tire slipping prevention apparatus, since the friction members 2 contact with a grounding surface 100a based on only a tension force based on a hoop stress of the wires 1 and 3 which each have an engaging margin because the friction members 2 do not have an certain electric force, when the friction members 2 contact with the ground when a vehicle runs, the friction members 2 are moved in the radial direction of the tire 100, so that a slipping prevention effect is decreased, and a severe friction noise occurs.
In addition, it is impossible to adjust the lengths of the wires 1 and 3 and the friction members 2, so that the tire slipping prevention apparatus is used only for a tire 100 having a certain standard size.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for preventing a slipping of a tire which overcomes the problems encountered in the conventional art and is easily and quickly engaged to and disengaged from the tires. In addition, the tire slipping prevention apparatus according to the present invention may be used for various size tires irrespective of the standard of the tires.
To achieve the above objects, there is provided an apparatus for preventing a slipping of a tire which includes a wire having separable coupling units connected at both ends of the wire at an inner side of a tire for thereby forming a circle shape having a diameter smaller than an outer diameter of the tire, a plurality of friction members each having one end connected to the wire at a certain regular distance and extended from the wire across a grounding surface of the tire to an outer side of the tire and arranged along a grounding surface of the tire at a certain regular distance, a straight line movement conversion mechanism inserted in an outer center portion of the tire for converting a moment generated in a handle in a radial direction from the center into a tension force in the center direction and applying the tension force to the other ends of the friction members, a reverse rotation prevention unit for preventing a reverse rotation of the straight line movement conversion mechanism, and a pulling bar for connecting a pair of neighbouring friction members with a straight line movement conversion mechanism.
The tire slipping prevention apparatus according to the present invention is engaged in a state that the vehicle is stopped. The above engaging procedure will be explained as follows.
First, in a state that the vehicle is stopped, the wire is connected in the inner side of the tire and forms a circle shape. The pulling bars which connect the ends of each friction member by two are extended in the direction of the center of the tire across the grounding surface of the tire, and the straight line movement conversion mechanism is engaged to the center of the pulling bar. The handle is rotated until the handle is not rotated, and the reverse rotation of the handle is stopped by the reverse rotation prevention unit. In the tire slipping prevention apparatus according to the present invention, each friction member is extended in the direction of the center of the tire by the pulling bars which are moved in the direction of the center of the tire by the straight line movement conversion mechanism and is engaged to the tire based on a close contact with the grounding surface of the tire.
In the tire slipping prevention apparatus according to the present invention, in a state that the vehicle is stopped, the friction members are engaged to the straight line movement conversion mechanism by two at one time using the pulling bar, and then the friction members are extended using the straight line movement conversion mechanism. Therefore, it is possible to engage and disengage the tire slipping prevention apparatus based on a simple procedure. Therefore, it is convenient to use the same.
In the case that the friction member by which the tire does not easily slip based on the close contact with the ground is formed of a band shaped friction member of a certain soft material like urethane, foamed resin, rubber, etc. in a flat shape, the tire slipping prevention effect is enhanced. In addition, the vibration and noise are decreased, and it is comfortable in the vehicle.
In addition, the diameter of the circle formed by the friction members in a state that the friction members are extended is different based on the number of the rotations of the handle. Namely, the diameter of the circle formed by the friction members which surround the outer portion of the tire is variable proportionally to the number of the rotations of the handle. Therefore, the tire slipping prevention apparatus according to the present invention may be adaptable to various kinds of tires.